


write her name in the sky

by torigates



Category: Freaks and Geeks
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-19
Updated: 2009-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-04 15:57:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kim broke up with Daniel for the last time three days after she and Lindsay got back from their summer adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	write her name in the sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Clio](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Clio).



Kim broke up with Daniel for the last time three days after she and Lindsay got back from their summer adventure.

"So that's just it?" he asked. He looked at her for a long time, and for a second Kim almost took it back. Daniel had been such a big part of her life for so long, it was nice to hold on to him; to have that comforting presence in her life, but her summer with Lindsay had taught that her she didn't need presence. She didn't need him, and Kim was determined not to hold on to things she didn't need anymore.

"That's it," she said.

Daniel looked angrier than Kim had ever seen him. "We're just done because you say so? I am so sick of this bullshit, Kim."

"See you later, Daniel," she said.

He didn't reply.

Kim drove over to the Weirs' house, but parked down the street. She hadn't spoken to Lindsay since Mr. Weir picked her up at the bus station. Kim had never seen him look so angry.

Lindsay didn't even look surprised to see her when Kim snuck around the back of the house and knocked on her window.

"Are you mad?" Kim asked when Lindsay had pushed her window open. She didn't really want to get Lindsay in any more trouble, but it had been weird not seeing her the past few days. They went from spending every waking minute together for months, to not speaking at all. Kim would never admit it, but she actually missed Lindsay.

Lindsay smiled, and Kim felt relief rushing through her. "I'm already grounded for forever," she said stepping back from the window.

Kim climbed through as Lindsay dashed to the other side of the bedroom and shut the door. Kim sat down on the bed. "I broke up with Daniel," she said without preamble.

Lindsay put her arm around Kim's shoulders, and she allowed herself to lean into it for a minute. "You and Daniel are always breaking up."

Kim nodded. "I know," she said. "But this time felt different." She paused and turned to face Lindsay. "It's like—" she broke off. Lindsay sat quietly next to her, and Kim thought about all the time they had spent together that summer, how Lindsay had always supported and encouraged Kim in a way that no one else in her life really had. It made her feel strong. Their relationship made Kim feel strong. "It's like, while we were gone I didn't miss him," she continued. "I felt like I didn't need anyone. Why should that change now that we're back?"

Lindsay nodded.

Kim flopped back on the bed, and Lindsay moved to lie beside her. It was nice.

It was Lindsay's idea to follow the Deadheads. The more Kim thought about it, the more she realised how amazing it actually was.

Kim would have never even thought about leaving Chippewa, let alone suggesting it to Lindsay. Lindsay came to her with the idea, and Kim knew better than anyone else not to turn away from a good thing when she saw it.

When she had asked about Lindsay's parents, she had just shaken her head, her hair falling over her face and said not to worry about it. That she would deal with it.

Kim had grinned and left it at that.

"What made you want to do it?" Kim asked.

Lindsay hummed, in the way that Kim could tell she was close to falling asleep. She was warm and solid next to Kim, the way she had been for the entire summer.

Kim repeated her question, and shook Lindsay a little bit to get her attention.

"What do you mean?" Lindsay asked, and rolled over onto her side to look at Kim.

"Run away for the summer."

Lindsay propped her head up on her wrist. "I just wanted to leave," she said. "I wanted not to be trapped in the same place, as the same person. I didn't want to be 'Lindsay Weir: Mathlete' anymore."

Kim laughed. "How'd that work out for you?"

Lindsay flopped back down on her back. "I don't know, you tell me."

Kim moved closer to her, and rested her head on Lindsay's shoulder. "Definitely not a mathlete anymore," she said.

Lindsay chuckled.

Kim woke up a few hours later, warm and unsure of her surroundings. She felt Lindsay curled up behind her, and heard the steady breathing next to her. Kim never had someone like Lindsay in her life before, who was just there for her all the time. It was new and strange and frightening, and Kim didn't know what to do with it most of the time.

Her stepfather hit her once when Kim was fourteen. She had refused to get a beer for him from the refrigerator, and he hit her across the face. From the ground, Kim heard her mom scream, but that was it. She didn't say anything else.

That was what Kim remembered most, that her mom had seen the whole thing and did nothing.

She went to school the next day with a black eye.

When Daniel asked, "What the hell happened to you," Kim thought about telling the truth. It wasn't like she wanted to protect the jerk, or some bullshit like that, but Kim didn't want Daniel to take care of her. She didn't want anyone to take care of her. She could take care of herself.

The first time Kim invited Lindsay over to her house it was for selfish reasons. At the time, Kim still didn't completely like Lindsay, she can admit that much. She wasn't sorry about what she did or why she did it, either. Lindsay seemed to have everything, and Kim had nothing. She wasn't going to feel badly about trying to make her life better.

Then Lindsay had to go and stand up for Kim in a way that nobody else had before. It made Kim like Lindsay, if only a little bit.

Still, that didn't mean Kim needed anyone to take care of her. She could take care of herself. It was just nice, sometimes, to have someone there to help a little bit.

Back then, Kim could have never imagined being here in Lindsay Weir's bedroom. They seemed like completely different people, but somehow Lindsay understood Kim better than anyone else ever had.

Lindsay was still asleep behind her, her breath puffing onto the back of Kim's neck. It tickled a little. The house was quiet, and occasionally Kim could hear floorboards creaking. It was comforting in a way Kim's house never was.

It wasn't until two days into their trip that Kim found out Lindsay didn't even tell her parents where they were going. Or even that they were going at all.

"What's with you?" Kim asked when she couldn't stand any more of Lindsay's sulking. They had been sitting in the van in silence for over two hours. The rest of the group was laughing and chatting around them. Kim had tried to join in their conversations at first, but Lindsay kept shrinking farther and farther into her seat. Lindsay was usually a pretty quiet person, but Kim could tell there was something bothering her.

"Nothing," Lindsay said. She tugged on the cuff of her green army jacket, and that was the tell. Kim knew there was definitely something up.

"Don't give me that bullshit," Kim said and punched Lindsay's arm when she didn't get a response.

"All right!" Lindsay said. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and mumbled something under her breath. Her hair was loose around her face, creating a curtain.

"What?" Kim asked.

Lindsay finally looked up through her hair. "My parents don't know I'm here."

"What!" Kim sat up straight, and ignored the alarmed looks everyone else was giving her.

"My parents don't know I'm here," Lindsay said. She waved her hands in a circular motion. "On the tour."

"I heard you, dipshit," Kim said, and hit her again. "Where do they think you are?"

Lindsay glared for a moment and rubbed her arm. "The academic summit," she finally admitted, looking down.

Kim stared at her for a long time, and then burst out laughing. "Fuck me," she said. "Maybe there's hope for you after all, Weir."

Kim was still laughing about it to herself hours later. They had stopped at a gas station for food and a pee break. "I can't believe you lied to your parents," Kim said. "I must be rubbing off on you."

Lindsay looked a little proud at that. Kim felt her stomach turn over.

Lindsay couldn't relax the entire day. The more Kim thought about it, the more she realised Lindsay hadn't relaxed once the entire time they had been on the road. She kept getting more and more agitated. Eventually, Kim marched her over to a pay phone and made her call her parents.

Kim watched her talking to them from a distance, feeling inexplicably nervous. When she hung up the phone, Lindsay looked so pale. "How'd it go?" Kim asked.

"I've never heard my dad that mad," she whispered. "He swore at me."

Kim wanted to make a joke. To make it all better, somehow, but she knew nothing she said would help.

"He said the people from the summit called two days ago," Lindsay continued.

"Crap," Kim said, and felt her stomach sink. There was no way Lindsay was going to stay on the tour now. Kim could either stay with a bunch of weird hippies she barely knew, or cut her trip short. Neither option felt that appealing to her.

Lindsay just nodded. The two of them stood silently facing each other. Kim could hear the rest of their group in the background laughing and setting up sleeping bags for the night. "So what are you going to do?" Kim asked.

Lindsay looked at her, eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"Are you going to go home?"

Lindsay shook her head slowly.

"Shut up!" Kim screamed and lunged at her, hugging her tight.

Kim had never had a girlfriend before Lindsay. There was Karen, and a few others, but Kim never really liked them all that much, and she got the feeling that they didn't like her either. It wasn't like that with Lindsay. She always felt like Lindsay had Kim's best interests at heart, and really cared about her. She must have dozed off again, because the next time she woke up, grey light was filtering in through the windows, and she could hear Lindsay's parents in the kitchen, getting ready for their day.

Kim rolled on her side to face her sleeping friend. "Lindsay," she whispered.

Lindsay groaned.

Kim prodded Lindsay's arm a few times.

"What?" she asked sleepily.

"I'm going home now."

Lindsay threw her arm around Kim, hugging her for a moment. "See you later," she said, still half asleep.

Kim crawled out the window and walked down the street to her car. She knew when she got home her mom wouldn't even have noticed that she was gone.

As she drove, Kim thought about their relationship, how they got to be where they were. She had never even wanted to like Lindsay. She was too smart. She tried too hard. She was too nice.

No one was that nice and meant it.

One day a few weeks after Lindsay first started hanging around, Kim cornered her in the hall. "What's your deal?" she asked.

Lindsay looked terrified, which only pissed Kim off. "Deal?" Lindsay asked and stuttered a little bit. It was pathetic.

"Why are you always hanging around now?" Kim asked. "Why don't you go back to your little loser friends?"

Lindsay looked down, but didn't reply.

"Whatever," Kim huffed, and walked way.

Lindsay had jumped every time Kim spoke to her for a week afterwards. Kim didn't understand Lindsay, couldn't figure her out. Almost a year later and she still couldn't figure her out. All she knew was that she liked having Lindsay around.

Kim pulled into her driveway, and sat in the car for a few minutes. After a quick shower and a banana, Kim headed back out of her house. Her mom ignored her presence as usual. Kim tried not to let it bother her.

When she walked into the front hall of the school, Lindsay smiled at her.

Kim smiled back.

It was senior year. Kim knew it would probably suck, just like every other year of school had sucked. She looked back over at Lindsay who was talking to Ken and Amy, and watched the way Lindsay smiled and laughed and moved her hands back and forth, probably telling them some story about their summer together.

The year wouldn't be so bad, Kim thought. There were definitely things to be happy about.


End file.
